~ The Great Russian Nutcracker is the Quintessential Christmas Experience!

Audiences Nationwide Are in Love With Great Russian Nutcracker

Critics are not the only ones raving. Our Great Russian Nutcracker 2010 tour has been wowing audiences of all ages. And we’ve been receiving many comments about the performance—thank you to student dancers, moms, dads, aunts, uncles, faithful Nutcracker lovers, newbies to the ballet, and everyone in between!

Anna Tyutyunnyk, "Dove of Peace," poses for a photo with a young audience member along the west coast tour.

Here is some of that wonderful feedback about this 18th annual Great Russian Nutcracker tour…

San Antonio, TX native Cyndi Navarro “enjoyed every minute of [the Dec. 26] show and I can’t tell which was my favorite scene… I loved them all.” She said she’s been excited about the Great Russian Nutcracker performance since she was chosen in November from a pool of hundreds of entrants to receive the grand prize in our Great Russian Ticket Contest. The prize package, valued at $700, included the best seats in the house at the San Antonio performance as well as her choice of one of seven limited-edition archival prints of original artwork, created by contemporary Russian artists from the St. Petersburg (Repin) Academy of Art—Cyndi chose “The Longest Sleep” by Tatyana Kalyn.

Party scene in the Great Russian Nutcracker

Sara Rucker of Meridian, MS shares similar praises for the Great Russian Nutcracker performance in that city. “You all gave an amazing performance [Nov. 18] in Meridian, MS! The costumes were absolutely beautiful! I really enjoyed myself! I hope you will be back next year!” Sign up for the Moscow Ballet newsletter for news and updates throughout the year.

Rachel Lee Laubach of Detroit, MI had this to say: “We were lucky to get tickets to the Detroit show at the Fox [Theater]… WOW! Amazingly talented dancers! GREAT SHOW!”

The Great Russian Nutcracker tour has special meaning for some, as well… Just ask Janet Harris of Asheville, NC. She met her husband on Dec. 21, 1984 at a Nutcracker performance. The pair married on that day, one year later. She says: “This year we celebrate 25 years together and [went to] see the Moscow Ballet’s Great Russian Nutcracker in North Carolina on Dec. 21. There is no better way for us to celebrate and we are so excited!” So sweet!
Lori Dahl Nichols and her daughter, of Missoula, MT experienced the ballet for the first time together in Missoula on Nov. 21. The Nutcracker is a great first ballet to experience. “We loved it,” she said. “The costumes, the talent… amazing!”

Seeing our Great Russian Nutcracker on Dec. 18 in Santa Rosa, CA was “a dream come true” for Patricia Gregory of Santa Rosa. She calls the performance “exquisite,” and raves about the costumes, the sets and the dancers.

Mike Mikolajczak-Mik of Easton, PA was quite moved by the performance in that city on Dec. 4. He says it was “marvelous! So beautiful, I almost came to tears with the familiar music and the beauty of the dances.”

The 2010 tour helped get others into the holiday spirit. Dusty Marie Koschny of Albuquerque, NM told us that she couldn’t “imagine anything better to really get me in the Christmas mood!”

Snowflakes in the Great Russian Nutcracker

She saw the performance in Albuquerque on Dec. 15 and calls it “absolutely fabulous and stunning… I was mesmerized from start to finish.”

Youth performers nationwide are simply glowing, too, delighted to have been on stage with the professional Russian dancers. According to Maria Smith Hartsell of Knoxville, TN, her daughter said that “something has been missing since she performed with the Ballet on Sunday [Nov. 28]. I told her I think she’s missing all the Nutcracker excitement. Twelve months will be a long time to wait. Thanks for offering children the opportunity to be a part of something so magical.”